In Spite of it All
by Hooty-McBoon
Summary: A collection of drabbles about how Natasha and Clint's partnership is formed. Trust is earned not handed out. Clintasha.
1. Every story starts somewhere

A collection of drabbles on how Hawkeye and the Black Widow became partners and so much more.

1. Every story starts somewhere

* * *

She was only a child. Apart from the fact that she really wasn't a child. She was 17 when he'd brought her in, she was skin and bones and lethal intent. She'd fought tooth and nail to stop the SHIELD agents from patching her up. She wanted everyone to leave her alone, they needed to stop touching her because if they didn't she would do more than break a few noses. Once sedated Clint took the opportunity to examine her properly. She was tiny, a mere slip of a thing, he marvelled at the legacy she had managed to gain. The Black Widow, he shook his head as he shrugged off his quiver and put his bow away, he would soon learn all too well why her legacy was completely deserved.

"You can explain it to Fury." Coulson had told him as Clint stepped off the jet.

Clint had shrugged and nodded; "Fine, she needs to go the medical bay first though." The conversation was over as quickly as that. Coulson understood better than any handler Clint had ever had. They were in synch, Clint knew that Coulson didn't exactly approve of him bringing the Black Widow in, but it was done and there was no going back now. A steely silence met Agent Barton as he explained to Director Fury that instead of killing Natasha Romanoff as instructed he had actually brought her back to SHIELD with him.

"Let me make sure I understand completely what you are telling me Agent Barton," his voice was level but Clint knew that he was far from happy; "you were sent on a mission to kill Natalia Romanova but instead of completing said mission you decided that she could be an asset to SHIELD and you brought her in. What is it exactly you see in her?" he asked holding the contempt he was feeling at bay as he watched his agent shift slightly in his seat.

Clint cleared his throat and licked his lips; "She's like me Director. She is exactly the same as I was before you picked me up."

"Hardly," Fury scoffed; "she's killed a hell of a lot more people than you had...have even."

"She's just as scared as I was Director. She will become a useful asset for SHIELD I promise." Clint swore, and she did. Eventually.

* * *

**A/N: First one done. Hope you enjoyed that these will all be short drabbles centring around Clintasha. Reviews are love.**


	2. Rubble

Here we go with the second drabble, thanks for the love from the first one.

2. Rubble

* * *

"Hawkeye? A bit of cover please?!" her voice was shrill and demanding, not what Clint was used to hearing from him, the thought that she was in over her head put his teeth on edge as he shifted his bow to the left slightly and loosed an arrow into the skull of someone who had been trying to sneak up on the Black Widow.

"I am covering your ass." He bit back trying to add a little humour to the situation despite the unease that he felt at her panicked plea from before. He moved to a position where he could see and cover her a little better, he loosed a few more arrows before the action beneath him was cut short as a crate to Natasha's left exploded, sending shrapnel and wooden splinters flying everywhere in a ball of fire, "Widow?" Clint called out unable to keep the worry from his voice as he tried to see through the smoke to try and spot Natasha, the explosion had taken out the remainder of the goons that she had needed protection from but the 19-year-old was nowhere to be seen, "Widow, respond!" he called out into his comm. he collapsed his bow and placed it on his back before turning to find his best route down from his perch.

He could hear static, her comm. link was still open but she wasn't responding, she was either unconscious or unable to respond for some other reason. He picked up the pace, he wasn't about to let her die on him now. He skidded to a stop at the edge of the rubble and tried to work out where he had seen her last. He scanned the area with his eyes trying to judge the distances and take into account blast radius' before wading towards where he assumed she must be. It didn't take much searching to find her, her fiery red hair stood out among the rubble even when it was coated in several layers of dust.

"Tash." He whispered her name as he sank to his knees beside her, he brushed some hair from her face only to find that it was still red due to the blood that was no staining her skin, "Hey Tasha can you open your eyes for me?" he asked doing his very best to keep his voice steady.

"We're on mission," her voice was croaky and small but unmistakeable as her eyes fluttered open, "use Black Widow if you want to keep your hands attached to your arms." His grip tightened o her arm as he fought a laugh relieved that she appeared to be okay.

"You scared me." He chastised.

The ex-Russian tired to push herself up but found that her arm wouldn't support her weight, she ended up falling back and would have hit her head had Clint not caught her, "I'll try not to get caught in a large explosion next time." She told him her voice devoid of an emotion but Clint knew that she was mocking him.

"Do you want me to leave you here?" he asked raising an eyebrow at her. She didn't so she stopped making fun of him and when the medical back up arrived it turned out she had four broken ribs a deep laceration to her left leg, a broken wrist and a severe concussion. Barton had wanted to shout at her for not telling him that she was in pain she had simply snorted at him in an unladylike fashion and told him that he knew nothing of pain.

* * *

**A/N: The second drabble. Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews/subscriptions/faves are love. More soon.**


	3. 3 Holes

Here we go with the third one. Hope you all enjoy this one too.

* * *

3. Three holes

For her 20th birthday, or at least the day that the Red Room told her was her birthday, Clint got three new scars that would haunt Natasha for many years to come. It was supposed to be a routine surveillance mission, keep an eye on the target, plant a few bugs and go home. It turned out to be a lot more difficult than that when Natasha was made. An old acquaintance from her time in the Red Room recognised her and had her captured.

"This is embarrassing Natalia." He muttered stroking a long skeletal finger along the side of her face.

"Not Natalia." She spat, her blood sprayed across his face.

He chuckled, wiped the blood away and nodded, "Oh no, my little Black Widow has reinvented herself. Natasha is it now?" he smirked his eye narrowing dangerously.

Natasha remained slightly she knew that Clint would be on his way and it would be better just to wait for him in silence, getting herself into any more trouble really wasn't to be advised. A small noise to her right signalled a window being broken three men were dispatched to deal with the rescue attempt, "Someone cares enough about you to try and save you Widow." He smiled darkly at her leaning in closer, "does your partner really know anything about you? Should I give him an education?" he asked edging an inch closer so that now he was in range, too close. She pulled her head back and smashed it against his, seeing stars she blinked several times as she flipped over the chair she was tied to, a move which she would later be able to perfect so that she could do it without breaking her wrist. The snap of bone was indistinguishable from the snap of wood but the pained grunt that rushed from Natasha's lungs. Anatolevich was coming back to his senses so Natasha swung out with what was left of the chair to knock him out.

"Widow?!" Clint's worried voice met her ears mere seconds before he came rushing out of the darkness to greet her, "Jeez Nat don't scare me like that." He muttered, Natasha glanced over him carefully there was blood dripping from a cut on his arm and he had a purple lump under his eye.

"We need to work on your hand to hand combat Barton." She grunted cradling her broken wrist carefully.

"Ah this is just a scratch," he said motioning to his arm before pointing at his eye, "and that was a wall." Natasha had to fight the smirk that threatened to spread across her face, Clint had made it his personal mission to try to make her laugh at least once while on a mission, he hadn't succeeded yet. His eyes caught a movement over her shoulder and he reacted instinctively, he took a step towards her and shoved her out of the way just as Anatolevich fired, not once, not twice, but three times. Each bullet impacted one centre mass, one leg and the third grazed his arm. The Black Widow responded by pulling her own gun and shooting Anatolevich between the eyes.

"Nice shot." Clint grunted before staggering slightly and sinking to his knees, "Think this might need some attention." He muttered point to the bullet that had impacted him in his chest.

Natasha caught him before he fell completely and called for the medical evacuation, "Shit," she swore pressing her hands against the wound on his chest, "you can't bleed out on me Hawkeye. Hey open your eyes." A fear gripped her as his eyes slipped closed.

"Stop shouting Russian." He grunted.

By the time the medical team reached them he had stopped breathing. She'd been pushing air into his lungs but it didn't seem to be making a difference, his pulse was slowing they were losing him. When they got him attached to the heart monitor and there was no output at all Natasha felt her own heartbeat stutter and skip in panic. It took what felt like a lifetime to Natasha to start his heart again, the doctors weren't sure if he would pull through, he'd lost a lot of blood and the bullets had done a lot of damage. Clint would wake up two weeks later feeling like a truck hand run him over to the sight of Natasha curled up in the chair beside him.

"She has barely left your side Barton." Coulson's voice sounded amused from the doorway.

Clint shifted slightly on the bed and pushed himself into a more comfortable position, "What can I say, the chicks dig the whole almost dying thing." Coulson did not laugh and Clint glanced over to Natasha who was now awake and glaring at him.

"Not funny." She growled.

* * *

**A/N: Part 4 coming soon, reviews/subs/faves are love.**


End file.
